THE family of an RAF pilot shot down in the Second World War have finally had a chance to commemorate his death after spotting an appeal in the Merthyr Express.

Christine Jones, 67, of Penydarren, flew out to Pont Saint Martin in Western France to attend a commemorative service for her cousin William Kelman Burr Thomas after she spotted a letter in the Express last year.

Mrs Thomas first decided to make the trip when she read a letter printed in February 2010.

Jonathan Ives, a member of the Amateur French Historical Society, sent in the piece in a bid to trace the family of two RAF crews who crashed near the town.

“I had a phone call completely out of the blue from Christine to tell she was the cousin of William,” Mr Ives said.

“Since November 2009 I have been trying to trace information about the crews of two separate WW2 RAF aircraft which crashed on different occasions close to the town of Pont Saint Martin.

“All the crew men were killed and buried in graves in France.

“The society runs a website which tries to provide more detail about allied losses over France and the men who flew, with some pictures and biographical detail. Most of this relies on tracing UK relatives.”

Mrs Thomas said: “It was such a surprise when I saw the appeal in the paper.

“I rang Jonathan straight away and he was so excited that he had to pull in to a lay-by as he was driving at the time.

“I passed on my details and then we were invited out to France. Me and my husband had a fantastic weekend.”

“There was a service in the cemetery on Saturday morning and then a morning service on Sunday. A band even marched through the town – it was very moving.”

William Thomas was a flying officer with the 106 squadron when he died on February 4, 1941 at the age of 27.

He was the son of Alfred Ernest Thomas who was born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1887 and had a number of siblings.